Shagun Butani is a distinguished practitioner of Odissi and one of the few women performers of Seraikella Chhau in India. With over two and a half decades of performances, workshops, and lecture-demonstrations across India and internationally, she is widely recognized for preserving, promoting, and reinterpreting India’s classical dance traditions.
As a core member of the team that prepared the Chhau dossier for UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list, Shagun helped secure global recognition for this rich tradition. She is the founder of Sudhaaya Dance Foundation, a non-profit that connects audiences with India’s cultural heritage and underscores the contemporary relevance of traditional art forms.
Her artistic practice spans performance, choreography, and curation. Choreographic works such as Door and To Shiva – Offerings of a Fragmented Heart probe the expressive possibilities of classical vocabulary, while meaningful collaborations across disciplines highlight the versatility of traditional forms in engaging deeply with contemporary expression. She has curated acclaimed festivals including Devi – Goddess on My Mind, Ek-Anant: The Unending One, Unmasking the Tradition: The Story of Seraikella Chhau, and Encircling Forms…Seen–Unseen. In 2024 she assisted in the curation of Eternal Echoes: The Resonance of Heart with Heritage for the Serendipity Arts Festival, an exhibition focused on indigenous genres of Indian music.
Shagun’s work moves fluidly between performance, scholarship, and documentation. She scripted dance films—Chhau Dance and Lai Haroba—produced by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and has delivered numerous lectures at prestigious venues, including the National Museum, New Delhi, where she has elucidated the symbolism and interconnectedness of India’s performing arts. She is also a visiting faculty member at the Sushma Swaraj Institute for Foreign Studies, where her lectures introduce and educate the diplomatic community on the dance and music traditions of India. Her current research explores secular feminine motifs in Indian sculptural and dance traditions, deepening the dialogue between history, iconography, and embodied practice.
A committed educator, Shagun, has spent more than 25 years working with children and sustained outreach in schools serving underprivileged communities. She believes that traditional Indian visual and performing arts—rooted in mythology, folklore, and nature—help children discover cultural roots and engage with social and environmental themes. Drawing on her knowledge of traditional art practices she has developed interactive awareness modules for children that use storytelling and movement to communicate complex ideas accessibly. Stories written by her for children , include Dushta Mukutasur aur uski Haar (on the coronavirus) and Priya Kudelal (on the importance of waste management), exemplify this practice-led pedagogy.
As a teacher and mentor in Odissi, Seraikella Chhau, she blends technical rigor with a focus on inner awareness. She guides students to see dance not only as form and technique but as a spiritual practice—an inquiry into the body as a vehicle for expression, resilience, and transcendence.
In addition to her dance practice, Shagun is a dedicated Yoga instructor (certified by the Ayush Ministry, Government of India), integrating breath, alignment, and somatic awareness into her teaching and creative work.
